Trio of Tigers Headed For National Championships

For Immediate Release, March 11, 1998

      Greencastle, Ind. - Three members of the DePauw men's swimming and diving team have made the qualifying cuts for the NCAA Division III Championships to be held Thursday, March 19 through Saturday, March 21 in St. Louis.

      Junior Jeff Willis (Boonville, Ind./Boonville) is making a return trip to the meet, while freshmen Dan Garrison (Lexington, Ky./Tates Creek) and Clint Troxel (Craigville, Ind./Norwell) are each making their first appearances at the national meet.

Willis qualified for the national meet in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a season's best time of 16:13.63 at the Liberal Arts Invitational. That time broke the meet, school, pool and conference record. Willis' time is the 10th fastest this year in Division III. Undefeated in the 1000 freestyle this season, Willis was the team's second-leading scorer with 362 points. He will also compete in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle events. He placed 18th at the national meet last year.

Garrison helped lead the Tigers to their first Liberal Arts Invitational championship in 12 years as he shared the high-point lead for the meet with 60 points. He qualified for nationals and set school records in both the 100-yard butterfly in 51.20 seconds and the 100-yard freestyle in 46.49. The butterfly time was the 19th highest in Division III and the freestyle time ranked 18th. Only two freshmen in the nation have faster times in the 100 free and three in the 100 butterfly. The team's leading scorer with 381 points, Garrison was the first freshman to lead the team in scoring in five years. Garrison will also swim in the 50 freestyle at nationals.

Troxel tied Willis for fifth place in points scored at the Liberal Arts Invitational with 51. The team's third-highest scorer with 319 points, Troxel qualified in the 200-yard butterfly in a school-record time of 1:55.03. He swam the second-fastest time of any freshman in the nation in the 200 butterfly. Troxel will also compete in the 200 individual medley and the 100 butterfly.

The Tigers finished the year with a 9-1 dual meet record and also captured the DePauw Invitational, Vincennes Invitational and the Liberal Arts Invitational.